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Liverpool's last outing in the league was not a pleasant one. Uninspiring in the first half and down a man in the second, the club's loss to Manchester United would have been disappointing in its own right if not also for the widened gap it put between the two teams in the race for the final Champions League qualification place. A pleasant Sunday spent revelling in old friendships at the All-Star Charity match may have taken the edge off the league loss, but it hasn't changed the fact that Liverpool's visit to Arsenal on Saturday is still a must-win match.
A raft of injuries to some of the club's internationals has put Brendan Rodgers in a challenging situation, and so it's unsurprising that a handful of players may be trying to race against the clock to make themselves available to the manager for Saturday's match. News of Raheem Sterling's readiness was made known late on Monday, and now Daniel Sturridge is allegedly closer than previously thought.
When Sturridge tore his hip muscle, initial speculation suggested that the player would be out for at least a month, effectively ending his season for all intents and purposes. Now that the player has undergone a scan, though, the Mirror reports that the injury is not nearly as bad as first perceived and it's possible Sturridge could also at least make the bench against Arsenal.
If that sounds too good to be true given Liverpool's ongoing striker woes, it probably is. Sturridge is certainly not fully fit, even in the context of this reduced injury layoff; if he does try to ready himself for Saturday, it would be with the knowledge that he'll play through any discomfort he feels. Liverpool fans used to seeing Sturridge accidentally re-injure himself when trying to return earlier than scheduled will certainly feel some trepidation over this decision, and both player and manager would have to feel like they're between a rock and a hard place to even consider it.
